The Back of the Range

Jackson Koivun - 2024 Haskins Award Winner

September 19th, 2024  |  19 mins 20 secs

auburn men's golf, college golf, golf podcast, haskins award, jackson koivun, pga tour

Great conversation with Jackson Koivun after his win at the Inverness Intercollegiate. We spoke about his magical run as a freshman last year and what lies ahead as Auburn looks to repeat as national champions.

Jay Seawell - Winning the 2024 Folds of Honor Collegiate

September 16th, 2024  |  14 mins 50 secs

alabama, college golf, folds of honor collegiate, golf podcast, jay seawell, nick dunlap

My guest on this episode is Jay Seawell, the Head Coach of the Alabama Men's Golf Team.
We caught up just a few days after the Crimson Tide picked up the team AND individual wins at the 2024 Folds of Honor Collegiate. Great conversation with the 'ol ball coach that you all will enjoy.

Leigh Chien - 2024 Southwestern Women's Amateur Champion

September 15th, 2024  |  23 mins 57 secs

ajga, college golf, elite amateur golf series, golf podcast, leigh chien, southwestern amateur, stanford

My guest on this episode is Leigh Chien, the 2024 Southwestern Women's Amateur Champion. Leigh went bogey-free in her final two rounds to capture the title at Desert Mountain. We spoke about her outstanding junior career and what lies ahead for her as an incoming freshman at Stanford University.

Josele Ballester - 2024 United States Amateur Champion

September 4th, 2024  |  54 mins 12 secs

amateur golf, arizona state, college golf, golf podcast, hazeltine, josele ballester, masters, u.s. amateur, usga

My guest on this episode is the newly crowned United States Amateur Champion, Josele Ballester from Castellon de la Plana, Spain.
As you would imagine, Josele has been on quite the media blitz as of late. Lots of questions about the final match at Hazeltine against Noah Kent and his legion of Iowa fans. We did speak about the match, but we also dove into his start in the game in Spain, what ultimately made him decide to play college golf at Arizona State, and the other amateur accomplishemnts on his resume that played a huge role in his success at this year's U.S. Amateur.

There is a lot of great information in this episode, I really enjoyed speaking with Josele and I'll see him throughout the college season now that Arizona State has moved to the Big 12 Conference.

Noah Kent - 2024 United States Amateur Finalist

September 4th, 2024  |  57 mins 51 secs

amateur golf, augusta national, college golf, golf podcast, hazeltine, iowa, noah kent, the masters, u.s. amateur, usga

My guest on this episode of TBO is Noah Kent, a rising sophomore for the Iowa Men's Golf team and also the runner-up in this summer's United States Amateur Championship. I've known Noah for a few years now, I would see him during the Terra Cotta Invitational in Naples, Florida....which is essentially his hometown tournament. He had a great freshman campaign at Iowa that included five Top 20 finishes.

Although he did win both his stages of qualifying for this year's U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine, he came in well below the radar. And after a first round 77 at Hazeltine in the stroke play portion, it didn't look like Noah would be around for long in Minnesota. That all changed in a hurry after a 64 at Chaska Town Course, the U.S. Am companion site, that vaulted him into the match play portion of the championship. And that was just the beginning.

During this episode, we spoke about his miracle run all the way into the Championship match against eventual winner Josele Ballester. We also spoke about his fans, that donned yellow Caitlin Clark t-shirts. Clark shirts rooting for Kent.....Clark Kent....yes, sometimes the headlines really are too good to be true.

Chaz Aurilia - 2024 Pacific Coast Amateur Champion

August 22nd, 2024  |  1 hr 1 min

amateur golf, arizona wildcats, chambers bay, chaz aurilia, college golf, pacific coast golf association, pga tour, smu golf

My guest on this episode is Chaz Aurilia, the 2024 Pacific Coast Amateur Champion. In this episode, we spoke about his collegiate career at Arizona and SMU and what lies ahead as Chaz embarks on a professional career.

Evan Beck - 2024 Coleman Invitational Champion

July 1st, 2024  |  56 mins 18 secs

amateur golf, coleman invitational, college golf, evan beck, george c. thomas, golf podcast, lacc, mid-am golf, u.s. mid-am, wake forest, walker cup

My guest on this episode of The Back of the Range is Evan Beck from Virginia Beach, Virginia. After winning the Coleman Invitational and the George C. Thomas at LACC, he is 2/3 of the way to the Mid-Am Triple Crown...with the Crump Cup at Pine Valley still to come at the end of September. Fair to say, Evan Beck is the best mid-amateur in the county and perhaps the world......not named Stewart Hagestad.

Lance Ringler - Golfweek's College Golf Insider

June 11th, 2024  |  1 hr 7 mins

amateur golf, college golf, golf podcast, golfweek, lance ringler, national golf invitational, pga tour

My guest on this episode is Lance Ringler from Golfweek. The truth is that Lance Ringler has been covering college and amateur golf for nearly a quarter of a century. He coached colllege golf, he still writes, he knows rankings inside and out, he will forget more about college golf than I will ever know. Jack of all trades. That's what I should have used.....College Golf's JAck of all Trades. Oh well, maybe I'll use that for the next episode with Lance. We just scratched the surface in this one....we spoke about PGA Tour U, Rankings, College Golf, the TWO tournaments that he runs....the National Golf Invitational and the Hoosier Amateu

Annabelle Pancake - 2024 Sea Island Women's Amateur Champion

June 6th, 2024  |  35 mins 14 secs

amateur golf, annabelle pancake, clemson golf, college golf, curtis cup, elite amateur golf series, lpga tour, sea island women's amateur

My guest on this episode is Annabelle Pancake from Zionsville, Indiana. She is the 2024 Champion of the Sea Island Women's Amateur, the first tournament of the Women's Elite Amateur Golf Series. After setting records at Clemson, she has remained amateur this summer while deciding her next move in the game of golf. Turn Pro? Make a final push to make the U.S. Curtis Cup team? Only time will tell.....

Luke Clanton - Florida State Men's Golf

May 7th, 2024  |  51 mins 40 secs

amateur golf, college golf, florida state, golf podcast, luke clanton, trey jones

My guest on this episode is Luke Clanton. The native Floridian just might be the hottest golfer of the spring, picking up three consecutive wins at the Seminole Intercollegiate, the Valspar Collegiate, and at UVA's home tournament....the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial. Luke was one of those mega stars of junior golf that represented the United States at Junior President's Cup. He won the Azalea Am and the North and South....before he entered college. So how did he handle the expectations heading to Tallahassee as a freshman.....well, we got into that. We spoke about the family support that he has received along the way and what he has learned thus far at Florida State.